Door Alignment - Bending hinges

[CoolFCWgn]

Hi all.

Chasing assistance on getting my front doors better aligned, specifically on bending the hinges, any hints appreciated.

I found this topic discussed briefly though no specifics on where to bend them.

Getting slightly frustrated having lost count of how many times I've had the door on and off 

[mcl1959]

This is tricky business, and I would suggest that if this is the first time you are doing it that you purchase another set of hinges to work on or practice with, as you can quickly lose control of where you are now compared to where you started.
My first piece of advice is to use a press so that you can control the amount you are bending. If you don't have a press, use oxy acetylene and hot bend.
Take the pin out and bend the hinge on the arc, flattening the arc brings the door in whilst increasing the arc moves the door out.

Ken

[Ole]

I have a similar problem. The original driver's door that came with the car fitted quite well but is fairly rusty. I have a good replacement door, but when it is fitted the top corner by the "A" pillar is recessed about 10mm lower than the top corner of the front guard. From memory this was the same problem when that door was fitted to another car. Will bending the top door hinge rectify that problem or can I pack it out with spacers? If I use either of those methods will that affect the door rubber sealing capabilities?
Any advice would be appreciated. (Sorry for hijacking the thread but I thought that it is a related topic.)
Regards Ole

[hsv-001]

Original doors seem to fit so well and when replacing them the new door does not fit.I have never tried to bend hinges.When I fit doors I look for an old floor mat or piece of carpet and place it at the bottom of the door opening and with the hinge tight to the pillar and still loose inside the door ,I close the door until it catches then check the clearances .If need be I will space gaps front or back with folded cardboard ,then I will climb in from the other side and tighten the 6 bolts.If you do this you don't wrestle the weight of the door .Hope this helps 

[fcwrangler]

another thing to look at would be the pins and bushes, make sure there isn,t any undue wear as this will also cause the door to drop.
Jim

[mcl1959]

What most people don't realize is that doors were custom fitted on the line where necessary, they used blocks of wood shoved in hinges and brute force as well as slapper bars to adjust door profiles. I have seen videos of workers on the line doing door gaps (before paint) and it is frightening what they did to make doors fit.
Ole, I'm not clear whether your gap is vertical or horizontal. If horizontal then it will help. You can't fit spacers between the hinge and door.

Doors usually need to be fitted to a car if they are not original. Any car resto place will tell you that. Sometimes grinding back the lip and rewelding is needed to get the door gap consistent. Bending hinges is just the start to align the flat surfaces, then you work on gaps.
Front door is usually done first to align with guard, then front door to rear door fit followed by rear door to rear quarter fit.

Guards, doors and quarters were all pressed in a tool - this is correct, but the tool wears from new to out of spec then it is replaced. All panels change size depending on where a bouts in time they were made and what the condition of the tool was at the time.

This is why it is always better to start with a good original car rather than a rusty one.

Ken

[mcl1959]

Jim is correct, pin wear is the first to be corrected since correct door position cannot be obtained with worn bushings

Ken

[Ole]

Thanks Ken for your response. The problem I have is more of a profile issue rather than a gap problem. I can adjust the door gaps no problem, hinges and pins are fine. My problem is where the curved hip of the door, just below the chrome trim line, that matches up with the curved profile of the top of the guard, that part is set lower than the guard. So when you look down the side of the car, the leading edge of the guard is visible above the door line. I think this would have been an issue that they would have addressed on the production line with slapper bars and slide hammers. So based on your advice I would say that it would need to be fixed in a body shop rather than trying to bend the hinges. Thanks again for your informed opinion.
Regards Ole.

[customFC]

Hey Ole.
If the door was a problem on another car also, I would be on the lookout for a different replacement door. I that lines up a bit better.
Regards
Alex

[Ole]

Thanks Alex, you're right, I think that is the approach I'll take. It's a pity though, its a really good door but its not not worth the expense or effort to get it right. I'll repair the original door with a half skin or patches.
Regards Ole.

[mcl1959]

Ole is the bolt pulling down the top of the guard in place and tight? I apologize if this is obviously not the problem and you are well aware of this issue, but I am astounded by the number of people who forget or don't know that it exists. Plenty of panel shops just leave them out because they just couldn't be bothered.

Ken

[Ole]

The guard fits perfectly Ken, it sits nice and flush with the cowl panel in front of the windscreen. Its definitely a problem with that particular door which is strange because the profile of the door looks fine. The hip profile that I described earlier looks normal and is not flattened out at all, not that I can tell anyway. No need to apologise for any oversight that I may have made, i appreciate the thought that you have given to my dilemma.

Ole.